ARKEN

Gone

The car was off, like it was parked, but someone was sitting in the driver's seat. They went around to the other side and Jordan opened the door. Noah Lau's head tilted to face them, his glazed over eyes staring up to meet them.

"Shit!" Jordan jumped back, startled. Derrick shouted, "I told you something was wrong!"

"Okay, I believe you. Let's find her. Look around out here, I'm going to have a look inside."

Jordan went into the building and made his way up to her apartment. The door was already ajar. The apartment was empty inside, but there were signs that something had happened. Jordan spotted scuff marks from shoes on the floor by the bedroom door. In the bedroom, the sheets on the bed looked disturbed and a lamp was on the floor. Something happened in here, someone surprised her, maybe there was a scuffle.

He thought of what had happened back in Archibald Armin's apartment, how he had been able to see the bioelectrical outline left behind by Armin and was able to use it to track his last movements.

Jordan shut his eyes and focused, when he opened them, he saw the blue tinted electrical signature of Vanessa. He watched her step out of the bedroom, only to stop. Jordan walked to the door to see what she was seeing. Another silhouette stood out in the hall, a large bald man. He watched Vanessa back up and get herself cornered by the big man before leaping over the bed and sprinting out. She got away.

Jordan followed the outline of the large man as he pursued Vanessa. He stepped outside, where the two outlines met again. The Vanessa outline ran to where the car once was. He saw her attempt to escape, only to be grabbed by the big man and dragged off. Eventually, the silhouettes faded into nothing.

"What is it? Did you find something?" Derrick was standing at the base of the steps, waiting for Jordan.

"She...was ambushed by someone in her apartment and chased out here. She got to the car. Before she could get away, the big man grabbed her, and took her away."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I can see...the firing of synapses or the moving parts in machines, they make electricity, and I can sense the signature of that electricity still in the air. I can see these faint-looking outlines and I can see what someone has done, where they've gone within an area."

"Where did he take her?"

Jordan pointed right, toward the road, "That way."

"We need to hurry."

They returned to the car and Jordan had Derrick drive while he focused on keeping the outlines in front of him. They drove for almost a half an hour and the outlines got stronger as they got closer, Jordan thought this was because these electrical traces were more recent than the ones at the apartment.

When the outline of the car came to a stop, Jordan had Derrick pull over. He pointed to the large building on the corner, "In there."

"Then Vanessa is in there, let's go."

Jordan put a hand on Derrick's shoulder, "Hang on. Who might have been responsible for this?"

"What do you mean? I thought you said it was some big guy."

"We have no idea who that is. Obviously, he isn't the one who had a reason to kidnap Vanessa, who does?"

"Jameson Beck," Jordan answered.